Descent of the Demon Master

e still anxious?”

“She went to a hospital in the morning for a consultation, but it doesn ’t seem like there ’s a major problem with her.
She ’s a bit too brave, honestly.”

Park Yu-Min sagely nodded.
“…Sounds like your little sister, then.
Still, wouldn ’t it be better for her to rest more at home?”

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders.
“Yeah.
That’s why we did clear out her schedule.”

“You did the right thing.
In any case, let ’s tell the driver to take this wreck away and go back inside.”

“It seems Chief Jo has already talked to the relevant people about it.
The wreck ’s here only because he wanted me to see it.”

“Oh, I see.” Park Yu-Min glanced at the wrecked Lamborghini and smirked.
“Gotta say, you sure do know how to cause a mess, Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho ’s face reddened for some reason just then.

***

“I admit that you had an incident to deal with,” said Ju Yeong-Gi in a dignified manner.
Kang Jin-Ho was cowered by his friend ’s aura and had to demurely kneel on the floor with his hands resting on his knees.
“However! Once you start something, you cannot let it fizzle out.
Do you not agree, good sirs?”

Park Yu-Min nodded affirmatively.
“You ’re completely right, Instructor.”

“Indeed.
And so, we have a clear problem on our hands.
Behold…” Ju Yeong-Gi extended his hand and pointed at the dining area.
“We have no customers.”

“…”

“To make matters worse, we can ’t even call on our hidden trump card, Eun-Yeong, anymore.
She ’s still recovering from her ordeal, so we can ’t ask her to come and put on a concert just to improve the pizzeria ’s revenue now, can we?”

“Yes, Instructor.
You ’re completely correct.”

“Honestly, the blame has to be squarely placed on the store owner.
He frequently vacates his own store whenever the fancy takes him, so this result shouldn ’t have come as a surprise.”

“Kuh-uh~, I can ’t even deny that, instructor.”

Kang Jin-Ho was rendered utterly speechless by the duo ’s exchange.

’Wait, have I been leaving my store unattended that often? ’

If that weren’t it, something had to have happened in the dining area while Kang Jin-Ho was busy in the kitchen.
That had to be the case, or the perfect chemistry between these two couldn ’t be explained.

Ju Yeong-Gi and Park Yu-Min were in perfect synch in their attempt to pressure Kang Jin-Ho as if they had known each for twenty years.

’

’Even you, Park Yu-Min…! ’

The horrible feeling of betrayal quickly rushed in.
Unfortunately, though, it seemed Park Yu-Min had already decided to end his alliance with Kang Jin-Ho a long time ago, judging from how passionately he was cheering on every one of Ju Yeong-Gi ’s words.

“So, what are you gonna do about this, Jin-Ho?”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.
“Before all that, why don ’t we have customers anymore? Didn ’t we have enough until recently?”

“That ’s because you ’ve been brazenly going absent from this place.”

“So what?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

Ju Yeong-Gi groaned loudly.
“We can ’t shutter the pizzeria since we ’ve already put up its operating hours on the windows, right? So, I ’ve been baking the pizzas myself.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“Hang on a minute.
Looks like we just discovered the culprit, then?”

“Oiii.
I was doing my best to the limits of what I could do.
So don ’t kick the blame around, okay? Have you ever been passionate about someone or something before?”

“I ’m sorry…” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head.
With this, the truth about him not being verbally sharp enough to win against Ju Yeong-Gi had been proven beyond doubt.

’Whatever the case may be, we need a plan to fix this… ’

Obviously, Kang Jin-Ho couldn ’t afford to see his pizzeria go bankrupt like this.
He might have started this whole adventure with a light heart, but the effort he and his friends had put in so far was too considerable and precious to simply abandon.

Hadn’t they personally rolled their sleeves up and worked on the interior décor and even on the kitchen? For the first time in his life, he worked together with his friends to create something good, so he couldn ’t just sit back and watch it wither away.

“What kind of plan would—” Kang Jin-Ho was about to say something, but his phone buzzed and interrupted him.
“Hmm?”

Kang Jin-Ho checked the caller ID on the screen and frowned deeply, prompting Ju Yeong-Gi to tilt his head.
“Who is it?”

“Hold on…” Kang Jin-Ho took a deep breath, then answered the call.
“Hello?”

– Are you free, Mister Jin-Ho?

“…More or less, yes.”

– Sounds nice.
The request you asked me is this close to crushing us on this side, though.

“I can only apologize for that.”

– You don ’t have to.
This is a trade, after all.
In any case, I ’ve put my foot down with the director and had him agree to shuffle the schedule around.
Miss Se-Ah won ’t have to shoot her scenes for the next three days.
Instead, I ’ll have to do a forced death march for three days straight in the meantime.

“…I thought you said I didn ’t need to apologize?”

Choi Yeon-Ha ’s quiet giggle came from the other side of the line.

’

– Yes, you don ’t have to be sorry about me.
However, you have to fulfill your side of the bargain.
It ’ll be next Monday.
That day will be just you and I, with no interruptions.
You haven ’t forgotten it, yes?

“Of course not…”

– You should prepare yourself, Mister Jin-Ho.
I ’m planning to gorge on expensive food, you see? And you will go wherever I want to go, too.
You understand, yes?

“Of course…”

– Very good.
I was just giving you a friendly reminder.
Please say hello to Miss Se-Ah for me.
Tell her to get some much-needed rest.
If one doesn ’t feel well, resting is the answer, isn ’t it? Ah, if her condition is not great, do you mind if I pay her a visit?

“No, there ’s no need.”

– Oh, I see.
In any case, please don ’t forget.
Later.

The call ended there.
Kang Jin-Ho groaned loudly while staring at his phone ’s screen.
For the sake of his sister ’s rest, Kang Jin-Ho requested Choi Yeon-Ha to help him with adjusting the filming schedule.
He was taking a blind shot with her, and he half thought that his request would be turned down immediately.
To his surprise, though, Choi Yeon-Ha jumped on the opportunity as if she were starving for it.

“What the hell is going on here?” Ju Yeong-Gi ’s eyes twitched dangerously.
“So, let me get this straight.
We ’re here for an emergency meeting to save our pizzeria, but you want to do what now? You ’re going out to have fun with who? Who?!”

Even Park Yu-Min was gritting his teeth while glaring at Kang Jin-Ho.

Flustered by their sharp glares, Kang Jin-Ho stumbled back and tried to defend himself.
”No, wait.
It ’s not what— ”

“Holy cow! Did you see, Yu-Min? This is what your friend is like!”

“Former friend.”

“Yes, this is what your former friend is like! Your friends are working their butts off trying to help out in your store, but you ’re going out on a date with a celeb? Holy cow… Dear lord!”

Kang Jin-Ho started sweating.
“N-no, listen to me.
That ’s not…”

“Human trash.”

“Irredeemable character.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently turned his head and stared forlornly outside the pizzeria ’s windows.

’I ’d rather face the punks from that Yeongnam Group or whatever… ’

He was freshly reminded of the inalienable fact that sometimes—it was a hundred times easier to just mindlessly throw punches around and fight.

Ju Yeong-Gi suddenly spoke up, “By the way, Jin-Ho?”

“Yeah?”

“…Uhh, doesn ’t Miss Choi Yeon-Ha have a friend or two? A pretty actress, if possible?”

And one had to be a bit more selective with making friends as well.